On June 26, 2009, hundreds of people waited in line to get their first look at the new and improved Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. More than two years earlier, a three-alarm fire blazed through the beloved Adolf Cluss-designed building, destroying much of the interior and its original vendor stalls, leaving behind a charred brick shell that was originally built in the 1870s. Then-Mayor Adrian Fenty was on hand for the reopening of the market, which went through a $22 million renovation and rebuilding.

Before the fire, smaller renovations had been in the works that would have cost $2.5 million and allowed the market to remain open during construction. After the fire, Fenty sought to rebuild better and more ambitiously than before. The Washington Post reported:

Air ducts were moved underground, opening up a much more dramatic view of the ceiling from inside. The concrete floor, which was cracked, was completely replaced; in the process, severe structural problems in the basement arch and beam supports were discovered and removed. The rat-infested, trash-strewn lower level was restored to life, and an old underground restaurant space, accessible from the street, became the new home for the Eastern Market pottery studio.

The rehabilitated space is bustling today, with most of the vendors returned to their original stalls. Not to mention, the space is now available as a venue for special events, including weddings. (As long as you've got some cash; renting the space can cost from $100 for a community group to $4,300 for a wedding.) Editor's note: Due to a reporting error, this post originally said weddings cost $5,100.

Photo by Flickr user mastermaq using an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license

How do I know that? Because D.C. Public Schools have put together a fun virtual video tour of the school, set to the soothing sounds of Antonio Vivaldi's "Spring." It kind of makes you envious. Did your school have a Rose Garden with some sort of solar powered greenhouse pod? (Mine didn't.)

When you walk into the school's main entrance, be sure to note how easy it is for a person to proceed through the metal detectors without slowing down much. At least if that person is operating a DCPS video camera. But who exactly is that guy standing to the right? Is he a security guard? Does DCPS allow security guards to wear distressed denim while on duty? The video doesn't provide many answers.

In the cafeteria, you might notice there's an entire section labeled "Pizza." Considering this is the home territory of Councilmember Mary Cheh—who pushed the D.C. Healthy Schools Act through the D.C. Council—that better be an entire section devoted to flatbread with mozzarella and tomatoes!

It seems like at the new Wilson, the architecture has the power to bend your conception of time and motion. In the gymnasium, for instance, note how there are basketball players frozen in action as others casually stroll down the sidelines. The physics curriculum ought to be fascinating.

The renovations to the system will cost $177 million (only $80 million more than anticipated last summer!) and will take upwards of 4 years to complete, beginning in early 2010.  Among the important tasks of the renovation are:

• New escalators at the south entrance of Dupont Circle – Please, slow down this exit even more.  And give me an opportunity to walk up and down that ridiculously long escalator when it's not running.
• Upgrades to the air conditioning and ventilation – Does the Metro really need to be colder?  Maybe when the trains are filled to capacity, which will only worsen when the Red Line starts single-tracking to solve this issue.
• Rehabilitation of the Rockville and Shady Grove platforms – What does that even mean?  Re-grouting the tiles?  Adding a few benches?
• New staircases, escalators, and a canopy at Foggy Bottom – A canopy?  Really?  Get an umbrella.

The other planned maintenance seems more on track, if you'll forgive the pun.  Like an upgrade to the automatic train controls and track maintenance and fixing the tunnel ventilation and fire equipment.  Maybe those should be the primary focus.  Because it's always better to prevent train collisions than to prevent getting wet while entering the station.

Frozen Tropics draws some heated debate/angst over the candlelight vigil for Trey Joyner held this past weekend. Joyner was recently shot and killed by U.S. Park Police. The vigil was held at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Among the comments:

"What a crock. I'm sorry but candle-light vigils should be reserved for true tragedies – those wherein actual innocents are caught in the crossfire of violence that people like Trey have inflicted upon our neighborhood."

And this:

"As of 10 pm, the "vigil" is now a go-go party. There are about 75 people (that can be seen from my angle anyway– there could be even more out of my eyesite) hanging out in the alley with a live band with a LOUD drum set. I fail to see how this honors anyone's death. It is just disrespectful to the families in the neighborhood."

Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space opens up a discussion calling for stricter demolition rules: "What the problem is that there aren't adequate remedies in DC law, other than designation as a landmark, or existence of a historic district, to prevent demolition." Don't just read the quote. This is a must-read blog post.

And Now, Anacostia has some sweet pictures of a corner home renovation. The house looks like something out of Disney.

The New Teacher On The Block tries to cope with the closing school year:

"It has obviously not fully hit me yet that I will not be teaching again until August. I am floating around in a surreal world; my life has focused so strongly on my kids for the past 10 months that its hard to think about anything else!

Maybe Thursday, when I'm lounging on a North Carolina beach instead of: lesson planning, doing ABA, managing nap time, taking kids to the bathroom, and trying to sooth chair-throwing temper tantrums, it will become more real...."

Upset the Setup gets nostalgic for the Goodie Mob.

Mud reports that the upgrades will include an expansion in the back of the bar. I'm not sure what this will do for the cruddy bathrooms nor the graffiti on the bathroom walls. The renovations are being headed by Manna, Inc:

"We're trying to make it look like the original. If you look around the Raven and the [neighboring Mount Pleasant Dry Cleaners], you can see that there are still cracks. We need a new coating that looks like original," said George Rothman, President and CEO of Manna, Inc.

*We were kidding about the heated toilet seats.